


A Big Sister's Legacy

by Galiko



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Drabble Collection, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-20
Updated: 2013-10-20
Packaged: 2017-12-29 23:28:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1011351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galiko/pseuds/Galiko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of drabbles done for the Basketball Poet Society's Character Battle on Tumblr. WE WON DECISIVELY. Lots of Mibuchi/Akashi and many other Mibuchi musings, with a toss up of Rakuzan team and growling at Seirin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Big Sister's Legacy

Akashi actually sleeps in late, when he can.

 

It's an odd trait that Mibuchi didn't expect, but it's almost charming. It gives Mibuchi a chance to see his bedhead when he rolls out of bed a couple of hours later than he, and when he's tousled and yawning and not entirely focused on being functional, Akashi is _definitely_ charming.

 

Akashi also doesn't like coffee. He prefers tea--very, very strong tea, with only a single bite of sugar at that--and he drinks it when it's still piping hot, when Mibuchi is certainly sure that he would be burning his own tongue and dying a little bit on the floor.

 

And yet--when Mibuchi's tea is chilled and he wants nothing to do with it, Akashi is the one to finish it off for him, citing wastefulness. Mibuchi is more concerned with the fact that it's an indirect kiss, and honestly, there are few things more elegant than a yukata-clad, messy-haired Akashi Seijuurou first thing in the morning, checking his online shogi game and generally looking at peace with the world. 

 

~

 

When they have sex, there _is_ an integral problem with the whole thing.

 

Well, it isn't so much a _problem_ as it is an issue that they will simply have to overcome. Akashi's _drive_ is actually somewhat tedious to deal with, especially when he's already kind of gnawing on Mibuchi's shoulder a few seconds after the first round.

 

"Sei-chan," Mibuchi half-wheezes, flopping onto his back in defeat, "you're going to have to _wait_."

 

Akashi seems less than thrilled. He pushes himself up onto his elbows, narrowing his eyes through the fall of his bangs. "Why?"

 

This isn't rocket science, dear god. "…Because it's going to take me more than five seconds to get it up again."

 

Akashi seems to ponder this, and rolls away, muttering underneath his breath: "It sounds like you just need new batteries."

 

" _What?_ " It's so absurd that Mibuchi is _sure_ that he misheard. 

 

"I said, you need new batteries. You know, like a vibrator?"

 

"…Well, maybe you just need a vibrator," Mibuchi manages to say, a mix intensely amused and horrified at being compared to that.

 

The stare Akashi levels upon him is completely deadpan. "I have one."

 

 _Oh_. Well, then. "I could watch you, ah, use it. While I recharge."

 

There's a moment of pondering across Akashi's face, clear as day. "Deal." 

 

The issue has already been overcome in spades.

 

~

 

 

Akashi is very certain that Mibuchi is too tall.

 

Most people are. There's honestly no need for height to that degree, not even in basketball. He's what many people would say is _too short_ for the sport, but he's proven them wrong in at least twenty different degrees.

 

That being said, there _is_ something…duly romantic about being able to reach up and grab someone by the hair to pull them down. 

 

If he were taller, the effect would not be _quite_ as great. Akashi begrudgingly acknowledges that. He also acknowledges the way Mibuchi's face softens when he reaches up one pale hand, tangles it into soft, dark hair, and tugs Mibuchi down for a kiss, his own face already expectantly upturned. 

 

Mibuch is too tall, but there are at least uses for that. 

 

~

 

Akashi does absolutely everything for a reason. An elegant, lovely, pretty, cute--right, Mibuchi is stopping there--reason.

 

This applies to sports, to games, to the way he dresses--which, ah, speaking of that, there is definitely a reason behind the way he wears his jacket all the time. Akashi wouldn't just dress like a yankee for the thrill of it (or would he, Sei-chan can get a little odd at times).

 

Asking outright isn't out of the question. Mibuchi _does_ value being blunt. Then again, there is always the risk of Akashi looking up at him with those large eyes of his, perplexed that the question is even being posed, and he wonders if he can actually _handle that_. 

 

To hell with it. Fainting is a pleasant experience, once in awhile. 

 

"It's because it provides excellent temperature regulation."

 

"…What?"

 

Akashi nods, as if it makes perfect sense. "I have a natural tendency to be cold, yet having that extra layer on my arms can be quite annoying, and so--"

 

Mibuchi sort of turns his mind off at the realization that _Sei-chan is naturally chilled, buy him more scarves, offer to warm him up more often_. Akashi is looking at him with the exact expression that he was afraid of, and Mibuchi is thankful that he doesn't make some gross, whimpering sound at the sight. 

 

He brings this on himself, more often than not. Where's the rhyme and reason in that?

 

~

 

 

 

 

~

 

Akashi peers up at him, wide-eyed and deceptively sweet. "Tell me about them."

 

Mibuchi's lips curve. 

 

"Kiyoshi is something of an idiot off the court. But he's a powerhouse, and a versatile player. I've seen him play point guard, power forward, center…ah, but he's a martyr," he sighs, leaning his head forward into one hand. "If he sacrifices himself for the team, that's no good.

 

"Nebuya…hmm. He has rituals. It's not good to get caught up in those, but his tendency to stuff his face I _suppose_ has some merit. He just puts too much weight upon it--though you can't deny he's a terrifying center, with a strength unrivaled. 

 

"Hayama is as loud and obnoxious as his own dribble, but he levels within it aren't something you can ignore. I've seen him blaze pass many exceptional players with that alone. He's fast and capable, though easily distracted. You'll have to train that out of him."

 

"And Hanamiya?" Akashi lightly presses, his eyes lidded. 

 

Mibuchi's just laughs. "You don't need to worry about him." 

 

 

~

 

When Akashi invites him out to his estate--and to the stables, subsequently--Mibuchi doesn't expect something quite like this. 

 

"Just let the horses lead the way," Akashi tells him, "they will be able to find their way to our destination. I've been on these trails with them more times than I can count."

 

Mibuchi doesn't know where their destination is, but apparently, the Akashi family owns quite a bit of land, and with that in mind, Mibuchi is certain this will go on for hours yet. 

 

He's right, especially when Akashi starts frowning. 

 

"I think," he says after a few moments, "that your presence is throwing off their sense of direction."

 

"Sei-chan," Mibuchi says, _patiently_ , "are you certain that these horses _have_ a sense of direction?"

 

"Yes. Don't insult them. It's definitely your presence."

 

They don't reach whatever place Akashi wanted to lead them to, but they _do_ eventually make it back to the stables, and _that_ is due in part to the fact the horses are hungry. Akashi is sulking, and Mibuchi knows very well that he will never live down his reputation as the horse-sense-of-direction-ruiner. 

 

(It comes up in practice a few weeks later, and there's nothing left to do but sigh.)

 

 

 

~

 

"It has come to my attention that you've caused one of my team members a great deal of distress."

 

Mibuchi just smiles. There's no nervousness there; why should there be? Midorima Shintarou might be a hulking orange-and-green wall, but he doesn't seem particularly unreasonable…even after losing to them. "Have I?"

 

Midorima's jaw is a tense line, his lips in a permanent frown, and Mibuchi wonders, idly, what Akashi likes so very much about this one. He mostly makes uncomfortable faces all of the time, and he's _not_ terribly fun to play with--not like that little point guard. "Yes. I would prefer if you kept your comments towards him off the court, at the very least. It's distracting during a game."

 

Mibuchi's eyes lid. Oh, it's come to _this_ , then. "And if I don't?"

 

There's a weighted pause, and from the glare Midorima is offering him, Mibuchi has to wonder if he's going to get punched in a second here--

 

"Reo. Leave him be."

 

What a shame. Midorima's tension obviously dissolves in an instant, and Mibuchi's lips purse as he turns to look at his captain. "I wasn't doing _anything_ , Sei-chan. We were merely having a conversation." 

 

Akashi merely _looks_ at him. "Then spare him that."

 

Mibuchi thinks, next time, he will show one Midorima Shintarou a lot of love on the court instead--not that he wants to take him down several notches or anything, not because he's the reason Akashi looks at him somewhat irritably for the first time in awhile. Definitely not. 

 

 

~

 

In July, even Akashi starts to wilt a bit.

 

He isn't alone. The whole team wilts from the heat, and it makes practices less than pleasant. Akashi is a rock through it all, of course, even when Hayama whines, and even when Nebuya sticks his head into the cooler for half an hour (which Mibuchi finds quite unsightly).

 

What he isn't such a rock through, however, is when Mibuchi ties his hair up.

 

He feels Akashi's eyes on the back of his neck, because who _wouldn't_ notice a stare like that? Mibuchi turns, smiles, his ponytail swaying, and watches a trickle of sweat slide down from Akashi's brow. 

 

"Yes, Sei-chan?"

 

"It's nothing."

 

Akashi is a lot of things, but he isn't a liar. The fact that he _does_ lie through his teeth while staring at the back of Mibuchi's neck says a dozen things about him, and lends itself to a few sweaty, sticky kisses in the locker room after the fact, where Akashi's nails rake down that bared skin, where Mibuchi bites Akashi's neck in return, and they're both regretting it afterwards because _god_ , is it hot. 

 

They regret it even more when Hayama stupidly jokes about hickeys, and Mibuchi tries for an hour to (unsuccessfully) convince Nebuya to just dunk the idiot's head through the hoop. 

 

 

~

 

"Why don't you ever speak to your middle school teammates anymore?"

 

"Why don't _you?_ "

 

Mibuchi supposes that's a fair question. He rolls it around in his head a bit before he replies, quite succinctly, "Because they have nothing left to offer me."

 

Akashi's eyebrows raise. "Then you shouldn't ask me the same question." 

 

Mibuchi thinks there is more to it than that. 

 

He has to wonder about the extent of such a falling out, and how odd it is, really, to see him still playing shogi with one of them over the internet. He's certain another sends him baked things and candy in the mail, but that's it. None of the others even offer him a letter, no matter that he's in Kyoto, far away from home. 

 

He does, however, wish that he had never brought it up, because obviously, Akashi thinks on it too long, lets it stew in his brain, and at the start of the Winter Cup, comes back from a supposed meeting with his ex-teammates, his bangs shorter and his eyes crazed. Mibuchi doesn't like it, doesn't want to ever ask a question that will cause that sort of thing to happen again, and wants to take it back.

 

(And it isn't just because Akashi looked better with longer bangs, no matter _what_ Nebuya says.)

 

~

 

 

The problem is that 'he's none of your concern' or 'he's not important' doesn't sit well with Akashi Seijuurou, and so he ends up _curious_. 

 

Mibuchi knows he should have known better, but _damn_. 

 

"I'm going to go investigate this…Hanamiya."

 

The shot Mibuchi is taking goes horribly awry and bounces off the side of Nebuya's head. He barely seems to feel it. "Sei-chan, _no_. I told you, that's unnecessary--"

 

"I would like to know the full extent of all of our opponents."

 

"You can't!" Mibuchi lurches forward, grabs Akashi by the shoulders, and proceeds to wrap him up in his own jersey with a sudden surge of panic. "You absolutely can't--ahh, here, I'll keep you safe in this right here, if I had a blanket I'd wrap you in that instead, yes, good, Sei-chan in a blanket, Sei-chan _safe_ \--"

 

Looking back, it probably wasn't the most elegant or dignified way to act, but it _does_ give him a proper chance to explain why investigating Hanamiya Makoto isn't the most pleasant of ideas.

 

~

 

Akashi Seijuurou is a terrifying singles player.

 

The most terrifying thing about him is his ability to see through anyone's shots, really. It's nigh impossible to get a ball past him, and Mibuchi vividly remembers the first time that he played him within their school's ranking tournament because of that. 

 

He was so certain no first year could become the captain of Rakuzan's tennis club. _So certain_ , and yet--

 

"You can be my vice captain."

 

Akashi sounds so _sure_ of it, and Mibuchi _is_ flattered. There are a great number of choices, after all, and to be picked means a great deal to him. "I'm honored, Sei-chan." He tilts his head, thinking. "I've an idea. Let's play a practice doubles match; you know, in celebration."

 

It is that day that Mibuchi learns that, while Akashi Seijuurou is amazing at singles, he is absolutely _awful_ at doubles, and it is only by Mibuchi's grace that they scrape out a victory. 

 

(It doesn't go that way according to Akashi, but it's fine; he's absolute, after all, and Mibuchi allows him that.)

 

 

~

 

 

Akashi has been informed that he is a man of peculiar habits. Occasionally, he is not _aware_ of these habits, and he honestly would rather not be informed of them.

 

One odd habit that he has, apparently, is to open up a box of candy--or chips--or whatever hurried gift a female admirer has thrust into his hands any given day--and split the difference with his current companion. As of late, that's Reo. As it should be; he _is_ the one he gets along best with, after all.

 

Reo, one day, curiously asks: "Are you trying to fatten me up, Sei-chan?"

 

Akashi blinks up at him, then down at the box of pocky in his hand. "No."

 

"You always end up giving most of your snacks to me. Flattering, but I _do_ prefer to watch my figure…"

 

"Ah. I see."

 

It turns out that the habit is almost impossible to break, and so Akashi doesn't quite bother trying any longer when Reo just accepts the offerings wordlessly. He discovers at one point that many of these snacks are kept stashed in his dorm (strictly against the rules) for late night studying and binging. 

 

So much for watching one's figure.

 

(He doesn't find that cute. He does _not_.)

 

~

 

The first time he sets eyes on Akashi Seijuurou, Mibuchi doesn't know what to think.

 

It's shocking that the captain of the Generation of Miracles is so _tiny._ The rest of his team isn't, unless you count that oddball number 15. Yet, his presence is anything but tiny; there's a swiftness and sureness with which he commands the court, a precision to every single thing that he does, and Mibuchi is actually quite glad that Akashi is not his mark. 

 

It's actually one Midorima Shintarou, and that's troublesome in and of itself, but more importantly…there's _Akashi Seijuurou_.

 

He has to sort of laugh when Akashi shows up at Rakuzan, when he waltzes into the gym with dignity and grace and pretty, poised elegance. He's still quite tiny, especially compared to all of them. He terms himself captain from the beginning, and makes a point of teaching them why he's suitable for the position. 

 

Even from where Mibuchi ends up falling on the floor, he can see that Akashi is pretty, and has soft lips, and would probably be very nice to pick up and kiss and shove into things, all in order to make that perfection and grace and composed expression _shatter_.

 

He'll make a point of showing him a lot of love very soon. 

 

 

~

 

Rakuzan's match against Touou is kind of laughable, at best.

 

They're good, but of course they would be. Akashi still doesn't play, and sits on the bench the entire time, barely blinking, ankles crossed. His arms are folded underneath the drape of his jersey that sits upon his shoulders, and occasionally, Mibuchi glances over to him, just to _see him_. 

 

More important, though, is his mark.

 

Sakurai is troublesome. He's quick and he's surprisingly strong, but Mibuchi isn't worried. The boy is close enough to his type that it's _interesting_ , because he's pretty and cute and wide-eyed and kind of fun to pick on.

 

For the first couple of times, at least, but when Mibuchi interrupts his shot, makes him miss, _and_ gives him a foul, Sakurai's temper turns for the worst.

 

"You," Sakurai snaps, his teeth bared like some wild animal, " _will_ get out of my way next time."

 

"Well, shit," Mibuchi mutters underneath his breath, wiping sweat from his brow and trying not to imagine anyone else that's cute and pretty and fun to torment suddenly turning into a snarling beast. 

 

Maybe Sakurai isn't his type after all.

 

~

 

It's hard to determine who will make the first move.

 

Mibuchi thinks about it, long and hard. He wonders, exactly, what he can get away with when it comes to others, but he wonders even more what he can get away with when it comes to Akashi Seijuurou.

 

He decides to take liberties, and to take chances. One doesn't get far in life without doing that--and besides, he's _quite_ greedy.

 

He's the one that waits until the rest of the team is gone from the locker room, the one that waits until Akashi is the only one remaining, going over a clipboard at the end of the day. He's the one that waits until the sounds of balls being tossed about in the gym are gone, and the one that waits until the last shower is shut off. 

 

He wants to be the first one to lean over and steal a kiss, to tell Akashi that he's lovely and very much his type--but Akashi is the one that looks up at him, eyebrows raised, and offers Mibuchi the back of his hand rather than his mouth.

 

Mibuchi's own mouth is dry, so maybe that's for the best. What is a dignified gentleman to do, after all, but kiss the back of that offered hand, and want to do more and more after the fact?

 

He's actually not sure who did what first in this circumstance at all. 

 

~

 

 

Reo has a lovely mouth.

 

It's hard to ignore it, actually. Akashi considers himself a man of a great deal of self-control, but Reo has a tendency to make that waver, even in just the slightest of ways. It's troublesome, it's _distracting_ , and Akashi is _not_ fascinated with the way that Reo runs his tongue over his lower lip, or the way he bites it, or the way he nibbles skin off of it when he's stressed.

 

He certainly doesn't want to drag a thumb over the soft swell of his lower lip, just to watch him maybe flick his tongue out and taste it, or draw it into his mouth with the simplest bobs of his head. 

 

Certainly not.

 

~

 

 

There are many people that would label their captain as a control freak. To be fair, Akashi certainly is; there isn't a moment that his eyes aren't wandering and analyzing, not a moment that he isn't asking questions and taking notes, because oh, he _does_ have to know everything, doesn't he. All the better to control you with, of course. 

 

That being said, Mibuchi is fairly certain he's something of a control freak, too. He's just more subtle about it.

 

He likes being able to toy with the girls that he flirts with on a daily basis, knowing they are wrapped about his little finger should he need to call upon them to do his bidding. He likes knowing that a great deal of the team fears him, even if they only fear being teased (maybe groped).

 

Akashi controls people through knowing; Mibuchi already knows everything, and controls by putting that all into practice.

 

~

 

 

"Basketball isn't just something you can read about in a book and know how to do."

 

Mibuchi's head tilts. "Well, obviously."

 

Akashi smiles, though it isn't exactly kind. "Unfortunately, Tetsuya used to think that way."

 

He pauses after he says that, and then shrugs. "At least, partially. Either way, this is why Seirin is none of our concern."

 

The fact that Akashi brings this up at all means that he _is_ thinking about this sort of thing--odd for him, to worry about a match, but Mibuchi knows him well enough that there is some obvious concern there. There's a furrow to his brow, a way to the absent chewing of his lower lip, and Mibuchi just sighs, leaning back to look at the ceiling.

 

"We'll still win," he says, and Akashi snorts.

 

"Of course we will."

 

Oddly, it sounds to Mibuchi like Akashi would rather lose.

 

~

 

 

Mibuchi supposes that if most of the people he spoke to _knew_ that he imagined what they looked like underneath their clothes--and often--they wouldn't appreciate it very much. 

 

It isn't like he means to. It's a habit of sorts, and it's really quite helpful when determining if flirting with a person is worth his time. Also, and perhaps most importantly, a person is most vulnerable when naked; imagining their _reactions_ to being stripped down and bare before him…yes, that's good, too. 

 

Bonus points, of course, should be applied to imagining Akashi Seijuurou naked, considering how pretty and pale and soft his skin is. There's a very good chance he wouldn't even _mind_ , and that confidence is arousing, to say the least.

 

Maybe, at some point, he won't have to keep _imagining_ that sort of thing.

 

~

 

There is, on occasion, the odd sensation that Reo is watching him.

 

There are worst things to feel, Akashi thinks. Well--there are definitely worse people that could be watching him. Reo is very tolerable in most circumstances, though Akashi thinks he could do without the explosive, gushing shows of emotion (affection) that occasionally come forth. 

 

The sensation that Reo is watching him only becomes a problem when that stare _lingers_. 

 

"What?" Akashi finally asks, turning to look at him one day, and Reo simply smiles, his shoulders lifting in a little shrug. 

 

"I like looking at you."

 

"Why?"

 

"Because you're Sei-chan."

 

Reo is no longer tolerable. He is the most obnoxious, perplexing creature, and Akashi would like to dunk his head through a basket.

 

~

 

There are a lot of people that could possibly be at his door in the middle of the night. Mibuchi does not expect Akashi to be one of them.

 

"Um," Mibuchi attempts, stepping away from the doorway, bleary-eyed and sleep-tousled. "Come in?"

 

Akashi does. He's actually mostly swaddled up in a blanket, though Mibuchi thinks he has his yukata on underneath that. He better. If he doesn't, there's a possibility he's going to get eaten alive. Not by Mibuchi--he has _standards_. Also, he's sleepy. But there are dozens of predators out there and the thought of his precious Sei-chan--ah, their precious _captain_ being molested by any of them--

 

"The heat in these dorms," Akashi begins regally, "does not permeate properly to my own room."

 

"Okay."

 

"While I will see that it is fixed in the morning, tonight I am in need of a much warmer room."

 

Mibuchi pauses. He's not entirely certain this _isn't_ a dream. It's time to run with it, though, and so he nods, shuts the door, and drags Akashi to his bed, wrapping him up into another blanket before he curls up with him.

 

There are no protests. 

 

This must definitely be a dream.

 

~

 

"What's on your shopping list, Sei-chan?" 

 

It looks quite short, actually. Mibuchi tries to peer over his shoulder to see it, but Akashi keeps it held close enough to his chest that there's no reading to be done at all.

 

"Tofu."

 

Mibuchi pauses, blinking down at him. "Tofu? Just tofu?"

 

"Yes. Just tofu." Akashi stares up at him, unwavering. "You said you would prepare it for me, didn't you?"

 

"Well, yes--"

 

"Because I only want tofu. My father always insisted I eat a more balanced diet, but he isn't here to monitor that while I'm away at school. I feel like just eating tofu."

 

"O…kay--"

 

"And if it isn't prepared properly, I won't eat it. So I'll starve. This should be incentive."

 

Mibuchi buys several cookbooks that day.

 

~

 

Occasionally, when Mibuchi goes to visit Akashi in his dorm room, he is simply playing shogi.

 

It isn't like the times when he's seated at his laptop, staring narrow-eyed at the screen, intensely plotting as he plays with whatever opponent he has that particular day. No, in these cases, he's merely curled up in a corner in front of the board by himself, playing…himself? 

 

Mibuchi doesn't quite get that.

 

"You've said that it's boring to play even in certain basketball games," Mibuchi points out to him one day. "Wouldn't it be even more boring to play yourself in shogi? You know exactly the move you're going to make."

 

"Not necessarily."

 

Mibuchi gives him an odd look. Akashi's shoulders shrug absently. 

 

"At times, I can surprise even myself."

 

At times, Mibuchi is quite certain that Akashi needs extensive therapy.

 

~

 

Getting caught in the rain is rarely a good experience. 

 

Akashi changes that.

 

Being soaked through to the bone in the stifling summer heat isn't the worst thing at all, and Mibuchi actually relishes it in some ways. It means he gets to strip away his soaking wet shirt in the locker room afterwards, feeling rain water running down his spine as it drips from his hair, and out of the corner of his eye, he can see Akashi doing the same. 

 

Mibuchi traces the path of one drop of water--rain or sweat, he can't tell--that drips its way down Akashi's back, and he hums approval underneath his breath as he steps closer, giving into the urge to follow it with one finger. Akashi jerks, then relaxes--a reaction not unlike a cat that isn't used to being touched, but has discovered that it now likes it--and turns his head, glancing back and up at Mibuchi.

 

"Next time," Akashi says, "we could stay out in the rain for longer. If you want."

 

"That's romantic, Sei-chan."

 

Better, though, is being slightly damp but still indoors and warm, because that way, Akashi doesn't complain so much when he scoops him close and kisses him hard and feels cool rain and warm sweat plastering their bodies together right before practice starts. 

 

~

 

Mibuchi often thinks about what others are like in the bedroom. 

 

He can't really help it. Maybe he has a dirty mind; maybe he's just a giant pervert. Whatever the case, it's amusing to imagine what his fellow teammates are like in the sack…well, for the most part.

 

With Koutarou, it's actually a little disturbing. Mibuchi doesn't want to know what that loudmouth is like, but he's probably obnoxious, with clumsy hands and poor excuses for dirty talk. He probably comes too fast, too, and in places his partner wouldn't want, so that's just unappealing. 

 

Nebuya doesn't seem like he'd be very vocal at all, though Mibuchi imagines him to be the kind of guy that you'd have to yell at to brush his teeth before a kiss. Ah, that doesn't appeal at all, and the thought honestly makes him want to shudder.

 

Would Mayuzumi even be _noticeable_ in bed? 

 

Ah, but then there's Akashi--pretty, pretty Sei-chan, whom Mibuchi actually can't even begin to process, and perhaps it's better if he doesn't. Thinking of what he'd be like is all kinds of a daunting task, and he'd much, _much_ rather wait for the real thing. 

 

…It doesn't stop him from thinking (obscurely) about it at night with his hand hard at work, though.

 

~

 

Mibuchi doesn't like horror movies.

 

He can still sit through them, of course. It isn't as if he's afraid of anything on a screen, though occasionally creaking floorboards and sharp winds outside of his dorm room spook him the night after. 

 

He expects Akashi to not even bat an eye, though.

 

Interestingly enough, Akashi is _not_ so stone-faced. He twitches occasionally, insists on pausing it right before the most terrifying jump scares to break the mood, and is often on his phone, looking up the summaries of the horror movies before the entire movie is done. 

 

"Why?" Mibuchi finally asks. "What is even the _point?_ " 

 

Akashi stares at him as if it's obvious. "I want to know exactly what happens. I will _not_ be taken off-guard by a mere movie."

 

The next time, Mibuchi refuses to pause it (pretends not to hear Akashi's growling about it), and he ends up with a lap full of Akashi instead.

 

He likes horror movies more now. 

 

~

 

It's in his third year of high school that he ends up injured.

 

It's an accident entirely, of course. A ball thrown too hard, not meant for him, hitting his head just right--ah, yes, detached retinas hurt quite a bit, thank you--and that's all that it takes to end up with an eyepatch over his eye for what will be, apparently, several weeks.

 

That's all it takes for him to end up on the bench, too. 

 

"I can _actually_ still play," Reo sighs in protest. "It's been a couple of weeks. I'm actually still quite good even minus an eye--"

 

"You _will_ rest."

 

It's not like Akashi to be so sharp with him, but Reo takes it at face value and obeys without question (for once). 

 

Apparently, so say the doctors, it can take up to two years to know if he will have permanent visual damage. That's annoying, but not overtly distressing. It isn't as if basketball were going to be career. He probably wasn't even going to continue playing in college. There are a dozen careers better suited to him. 

 

The problem with that, of course, is the empty feeling in his chest when he watches everyone else play, and watches a freshman shooting guard do a piss-poor job if he's ever seen one. 

 

It's a pity that he can only see them with one eye. 

 

~

 

"Guys. _Guys._ "

 

Mibuchi contemplates grabbing his earplugs well in advance. 

 

"Guys, I've got a great idea this time." 

 

Hayama leans forward, his eyes gleaming like dark little pits to hell. "I have an idea on how to be famous on Nico." 

 

Mibuchi grabs for the earplugs.

 

" _This time_ , let's set up a trampoline--"

 

Mibuchi leaves to do shooting practice alone.

 

It's a mistake, because when he comes back, there's a trampoline beneath the hoop, and Nebuya and Hayama alike are wiping away tears of laughter as Akashi takes a running leap, bounces once on the thing, and makes what would otherwise be a very satisfying dunk. 

 

Mibuchi just stares, slack-jawed. "Even _you_ , Sei-chan?"

 

Akashi blinks over at him after landing back onto the trampoline in a perfect seiza. "What? I thought it was a brilliant plan." 

 

Later on, Mibuchi learns the video has somewhere nearly two million hits. 

 

He wants off of this team immediately.

 

~

 

"It's a basketball cat."

 

Mibuchi just squints.

 

He hadn't expected to find one Akashi Seijuurou, feared captain of Rakuzan High, to be hiding a stray cat in his dorm room. It's very much against the rules. It's also…sort of opposite of his personality? In a dozen different ways? 

 

And yet, one day upon visiting him, Akashi was simply sitting there on the floor letting the cat dangle from his hands, bouncing it gently in his hold as it purred loudly and acted as if it was the best thing in the world. 

 

The cat isn't quite right, first of all. Then again, Akashi isn't either. 

 

"A basketball cat," Mibuchi eventually echoes. "What part of it makes it a basketball cat?"

 

"I found it by the extra balls. It was playing with one of them." Akashi stares up at him. His gaze actually rather resembles a cat's. Mibuchi doesn't know how he feels about this. 

 

…But then Akashi sort of hugs the thing to this chest, and Mibuchi feels his heart pound that much harder. Ah. Okay. He's going to die from how cute it all is, apparently.

 

(Later, the cat pees in Nebuya's shoes when it visits the gym. It is no longer cute.)

 

~

 

"Look at that meat. _Look at it_ , oh my god, _LOOK AT IT_ \--"

 

"Yes, Nebuya," Mibuchi crossly snaps. "We all see it."

 

It was Hayama's idea to watch a cooking show on their day off. It usually is his idea when they end up in horrible situations, crammed on a tiny couch and glaring at television together. Mayuzumi, at least, didn't come this time. All he ever does is stare blankly at things while occasionally popping chips listlessly into his mouth, and Mibuchi doesn't like his dead fish eyes, anyway. 

 

"Why," Akashi indignantly asks, "doesn't anyone ever use _tofu_ on these shows?" 

 

"Sei-chan," Mibuchi patiently says, "no one _ever_ likes tofu as much as--"

 

"Holy shit, that _pork roast_ \--"

 

"I want to eat all of it!" Hayama wheezes, drooling kind of horrifyingly out of the side of his mouth. 

 

Mibuchi wonders why he ever joined the basketball team. _This_ was not on the requirements list.

 

~

 

On sports day, Akashi claims the stilts.

 

He _would_. Of course he would. Mibuchi tries not to snicker and tease him about being tiny and cute even when he's on those things. He's pretty sure the answer would be 'laps' if he tried. 

 

He's not sure why anyone thought it would be a good idea to put _Nebuya_ in a wheelbarrow, but he's there, and they lose that race spectacularly. 

 

Notably, Hayama doesn't do very well on a unicycle either.

 

Mibuchi, for his part, feigns illness--except when the stilts happen again, and he idly steals a pair, just to remain taller than Akashi still. 

 

It's worth it, for the put out look he gets in response. 

 

~

 

It's actually almost startling how traditional clothes suit Akashi so very well.

 

His mother would say that traditional Japanese clothing suit anyone that is really Japanese. Mibuchi would disagree, of course, because he feels a bit out of place in it all. It has a lot to do with the fact that he's tall and long-legged, and _most_ things that have to be specifically tailored for that just don't look the same.

 

Akashi, however--he's something else entirely. He looks perfect in his yukata at night, everything ironed and folded in the right places, and Mibuchi's seen him practicing archery, too, looking perfectly poised and with every hakama pleat in place--

 

It's _definitely_ a bit shocking how fast it makes blood rush southward in his body. Whoops.

 

~

 

~

 

Girls are strange creatures. Mibuchi likes them well enough, of course, but dear god, sometimes their particular habits, interests, and fantasies are all just… _odd._

 

The fact that they sit around and _write things_ about their beloved captain is one such odd thing. 

 

They call it fanfiction, if he recalls correctly. He discovered one of their notebooks, left behind after their spying missions on that week's basketball practice. He'd though it cute at first, but then it became clear that their particular flavor for that week was the idea of _dating the lovely Akashi Seijuurou_.

 

Hmmm.

 

Odder still, when their flavor for the next week turns out to be writing stories that were Akashi/Protagonist Self-inserts. Mibuchi honestly finds himself scratching his head at most of the things that they write about, because that isn't Sei-chan at _all_. 

 

That being said, he _does_ have a white horse (that he won't shut up about), and he _does_ have the ability to sweep a person off of their feet (Ankle Break is unpleasant). It just…isn't in the way that these girls write about him.

 

~

 

Shuutoku AU

\---

It's not his first choice of a school, but he's been here for a year already, so Mibuchi supposes he will stay. 

 

The freshmen are interesting this year. There's the tall, green-haired one with a _horrible_ disposition, and then there's a cute little point guard that makes Mibuchi want to do a number of horrible things.

 

When he wants to do something, he usually acts on it. He never claims to be very good at self-control. 

 

He's scolded a few times by the upperclassmen to lay off, to stop touching him inappropriately during practice, but he's just so _cute_ , and it isn't his fault that Takao is vomiting at the end of practice almost every day, he's just being helpful and holding his hair back for him. 

 

At the end of the day, a team with two shooting guards isn't terribly good, though. Maybe this school was a mistake after all. 

 

~

 

The idea of girls is really a lovely thing, Mibuchi thinks.

 

He'd love to be able to sweep a woman off of her feet, to deliver a bouquet of roses into her hands, to kiss her cheeks and to meet her eyes and smile. He'd love to be able to make her laugh and to make her want to grab at his hands and climb up into his arms for kisses.

 

Ah, well. Fantasies aren't always the same as reality, and his reality is nothing like girls that act like that--or at least, the reality of his _interests_ aren't. 

 

Instead, he tends to end up with one tiny, cool-mannered captain, calmly, precisely ordering him and the rest of the team about, and generally being unfazed by all of his bushings over him. He doesn't end up with Akashi climbing into his arms, but his lap instead, and only when there are a certain number of requirements met. 

 

It's a good thing, at least, that Akashi is lovelier than any girl.

 

~

 

"If you gave me two horses and one week, the Game of Thrones would be won. By me, of course."

 

Mibuchi just laughs. Akashi tends to end up like this after watching _any_ sort of television show. Cooking shows in particular end disastrously, but when it comes to things like this--

 

"Also," Akashi says regally, drawing himself to his full height even while in seize, "I do not need dragons in order to accomplish this."

 

"No?"

 

"No. Just horses."

 

Mibuchi sighs, and gives into the urge to simply humor him. "All right, then. Just horses. Would you let me be your queen then, Sei-chan?"

 

Akashi regards him contemplatively. "Perhaps. If you could maintain any sort of strategic usefulness or proper decorum--"

 

"I will attempt to be short in public, I promise."

 

"Then you will be suitable."

 

Mibuchi has long learned that 'suitable' is the best compliment of all, especially from _Rakuzan's_ Emperor.

 

~

 

Winning with dignity and grace is Mibuchi's specialty, and there is absolutely nothing in the world that he will sacrifice that for.

 

Ah, well--he _is_ greedy, but that being said…there's still an elegance to every shot he takes, every move that he makes on the court, because there's _strategy_ involved in making every single point count. It matters not what people see; he isn't _cheating_ when he positions himself just so and makes his opponent foul themselves. He's not _hurting_ them. He's merely smarter, faster, and placed just perfectly so. 

 

(He's also quite certain that Sei-chan once mentioned that he likes a dignified woman, and while Mibuchi is very certain that he is no woman and doesn't want to be at all, he will be certain to be dignified, and draw the eye of his captain and friend all the more.)

 

(…Bonus points if it makes everyone else angry in the process.)

 

 

~

 

Mibuchi is starting to enjoy the fact that Akashi will eat anything that he places in front of him.

 

It's flattering, truth be told. Akashi is picky, and often turns his nose up at school lunches (no matter how they are all conditioned to eat the things from day one, and they _are_ often quite good). He's usually quietly curled around a bentou (how did those get here, he's at boarding school for god's sake), but Mibuchi can see that he even picks through that on the best of days.

 

If it's _his_ food, however, Akashi eats it.

 

He questioned it at first, but Mibuchi has quickly discovered that if there is tofu, it will be eaten. How charming. He's also discovered Akashi's favorite desserts--some rare kind of white chocolate pocky in particular--and handing those over generally does the trick as well.

 

He likes being preferred. Hopefully, this continues.


End file.
